The Background and Summary are provided to introduce a selection of concepts that are further described below in the Detailed Description. The Background and Summary are not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor are they intended to be used as an aid in limiting the scope of the claimed subject matter.
The following U.S. Patents are hereby incorporated herein by reference, in entirety:
U.S. Pat. No. 6,478,073 discloses a composite core structure used for metal casting in order to form cavities of preselected sizes and shapes within the casting. The composite core has an insoluble support member that can be metallic, and a soluble portion disposed around at least a part of the support member. When the composite core is used in a casting process, such as a die casting process, the soluble portion is dissolved after the casting process is complete, and the insoluble portion is then removed from the cavity that was formed through the use of the composite core.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,820,389 discloses a method for the high pressure die casting of an engine block assembly having at least one cast-in-place cylinder bore in the engine block and a closed head deck surface, and the resultant engine block. The closed deck high pressure die cast engine block assembly will preferably have at least two cast-in-place cylinder bores in the engine block formed by using a composite core of salt core material supported by at least one cylinder bore to be cast in place. The cylinder bores have a lower outer surface preferably defining at least one surface area that interfaces with the engine block during casting such that the at least one cylinder is cast in place in the engine block. An engine block cooling jacket—as defined by the salt core portion of the composite core—will preferably provide an open passage between each cylinder bore such that cooling fluid may flow around an entire outer circumference of the upper outer surface of the cylinder bores. This provides better and more uniform cylinder wall cooling, reducing thermal hot spotting and bore wall distortion.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,402,930 discloses a cooling system for a marine engine with various cooling channels and passages which allow the rates of flow of its internal streams of water to be preselected so that heat can be advantageously removed at varying rates for different portions of the engine. In addition, the direction of flow of cooling water through the various passages assists in the removal of heat from different portions of the engine at different rates so that overheating can be avoided in certain areas, such as the exhaust manifold and cylinder head, while overcooling is avoided in other areas, such as the engine block.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,479,691; 8,763,566; and 8,783,217 disclose a cooling system for a marine engine with various cooling channels which allow the advantageous removal of heat at different rates from different portions of the engine. A split-flow of water is conducted through the cylinder head, in opposite directions, to individually cool the exhaust port and intake ports at different rates. This increases the velocity of coolant flow in the downward direction through the cylinder head to avoid the accumulation of air bubbles and the formation of air pockets that could otherwise cause hot spots within the cylinder head. A parallel coolant path is provided so that a certain quantity of water can bypass the engine block and avoid overcooling the cylinder walls.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,174,818 discloses a marine engine that includes a cylinder block having first and second banks of cylinders that are disposed along a longitudinal axis and extend transversely with respect to each other in a V-shape so as to define a valley there between. A catalyst receptacle is disposed at least partially in the valley and contains at least one catalyst that treats exhaust gas from the marine engine. A conduit conveys the exhaust gas from the marine engine to the catalyst receptacle. The conduit receives the exhaust gas from the first and second banks of cylinders and conveys the exhaust gas to the catalyst receptacle. The conduit reverses direction only once with respect to the longitudinal axis.